Area Sport Fishing Reports
North Gulf Coast/Resurrection Bay

Archived Sport Fishing Report

May 24, 2016

North Gulf Coast Area

Week of May 23 to May 31

General Area Description: Includes waters from Gore Point to Cape Fairfield.

Emergency Orders and regulation reminders

• The personal use season for shrimp pot fishing in North Gulf Coast area waters opened on April 15 and closes Sept 15. Permits are required to participate in this fishery and are free at select ADF&G offices and vendors.
• Lingcod fishing remains closed until July 1.

Halibut

• With a mild winter and a warm spring, halibut fishing in the North Gulf Coast has been reported to be good for this time of year.
• Few halibut have been reported from inside of Resurrection Bay, but will remain slow until the hooligan and salmon begin entering the bay in larger numbers.

Salmon

• The king salmon limit in Res. Bay is now two per day, any size. Try trolling with a small- to medium-sized herring and an oversized flasher.
• Anglers continue to catch king salmon in the Res. Bay daily. Most kings caught have been feeder kings, indicating that it is still early for the king salmon returning to the lagoon.
• Sockeye have been reported to be milling in Res. Bay for over a week now, and anglers have reported sporadic catches of sockeye in salt water including the open section of Resurrection River downstream of the ADF&G markers (see page 78 of the Southcentral Sport fishing Regulations for more details).

Other salt water fishing

• Lingcod fishing remains closed until July 1 to protect nest guarding males.
• Rockfish are easy to catch and have a fairly conservative bag limit, so target your rockfish last.
• The rockfish daily bag limit is 4 per day, of which only 1 may be a non-pelagic (demersal) rockfish.
• Use deepwater release methods to release incidentally caught rockfish. For details, see the ADF&G Rockfish Conservation webpage at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingSportFishingInfo.rockfishconservation
• Consistent catches of Pacific cod and black rockfish have reported near the entrance of Resurrection Bay.
• There have been no reports of hooligan in Resurrection Bay yet, but anecdotal information says that typically arrive in the last week of May.

Shellfish

• There have been no reports from the personal-use shrimp pot fishery. This fishery is now open in the entire North Gulf Coast area. To participate in the fishery you must be an Alaska resident with a current sport fishing license or ADF&G Permanent ID card, and a North Gulf Coast shrimp pot fishery permit. Permits can be obtained at the Anchorage, Homer, or Soldotna ADF&G offices and at the Seward Fish House.
• Check out page 10 of the 2016 Southcentral Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary for regulations on this fishery, and page 9 shrimp pot requirements.

Fresh waters

Salmon

• There are no freshwater drainages in Resurrection Bay open to salmon fishing at this time.

Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden, Arctic Grayling

• Fish for Dolly Varden around creek mouths, especially creeks where pink and chum salmon spawn.
• Try casting small spinners and spoons off the beach for some sea run Dolly Varden action.
• Fry and smolt patterns have been known to produce catches of Dolly Varden in Seward area streams

Northern Pike

• Northern pike are not native to Southcentral Alaska. Please report the capture of any pike in unconfirmed waters to ADF&G. Do not release any pike you have caught.

Lake Fishing

• First lake was stocked with rainbow trout. This is a great place to take the family and they should be hungry. Try using a bobber with bait or flies.